Your P.S. gives you a final chance to argue your point – whatever it is.

If the main body of your message has done its job, by this point the reader is almost ready to take action.

The P.S. should provide one more piece of information that makes you (in the case of an intro to your CV), your product or service (in the case of a sales letter) or any other request you make ‘irresistible’.

But it’s where most people miss a great opportunity...
You see your P.S. could just reaffirm something you mentioned earlier in your letter. Like a final reminder of the claims you’ve made, or the proof you’ve provided.

But, I believe that’s a wasted opportunity.

Think about it.

You’ve already made your point and the reader will have judged it valid or invalid. Just repeating it isn’t going to make a whole lot of difference.

To avoid making this mistake, instead of wasting the P.S. opportunity by repeating something in your main message – save one piece of information to exclusively reveal in the P.S.
 

Making your final word ‘irresistible’

So what exclusive information can you save for your P.S. – or put differently – what can you afford to leave out of your main message?

Well, you should already have a good idea of the benefits you’re offering your reader for taking action. I recommend you make a list of them on a separate piece of paper.

If you’ve got a list of six great benefits then you can afford to leave one for the P.S. and use the others in the body of the message.

But if you think you must communicate all the benefits of the product or service in the main message, there are another two options open to you...
Firstly, as a P.S. you could include referrals or testimonials from people you’ve worked for or who have tried your product or service.

This is a great way to further prove the case for what you’re offering.

If the reader is already sold on the idea, the fact that you’ve only included these referrals or testimonials almost as an afterthought will further prove how good you or your product or service is.

Your second option is to introduce a guarantee in the P.S.

Remember. By this point, a reader will be:
A) very interested,
B) still not sure or
C) completely uninterested.

Reader A will see the guarantee as a bonus. For example, “Give me one hour of your time to get to know your business and I guarantee I will save your company money, by the time I leave your office. Then you can decide if you want to hire me.”

Reader B may see the guarantee as a reason to at least give you, your product or service a try.

As too might reader C, but if they don’t, nothing you could have done at this point would have made a difference.

You can see how useful a P.S. can be and testing has proven that including one does increase response...

To really make the most of your final word, keep it spontaneous, keep it fresh and make sure it’s irresistible.

In the name of happiness and success,
 

Pascale Barrow
Managing Editor of Personal & Finance Confidential